I was pleased to speak in the debate to mark the 70th anniversary of Cumbernauld. In doing so I was also able to reflect on the recent 50th anniversary of Summerston in my constituency.
Full Text of my speech
I am pleased to speak in this debate to celebrate the significant landmark of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the new town of Cumbernauld and commend Jamie Hepburn for bringing the motion to Parliament. I also thank him for his kind words when he responded to my members’ business debate just a few months ago, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Summerston in my constituency. I hope that the member will forgive me that I might return to that fleetingly later on.
It is right that we celebrate such civic and community landmark occasions. I cannot claim to have much experience of Cumbernauld, but I know that the area has a proud history that stretches way back beyond 70 years. The formation of the new town incorporated historic villages such as Cumbernauld and Condorrat, with their own proud history.
My initial reference point for Cumbernauld is, as it is for many people, “Gregory’s Girl”. I still cannot count without putting “One elephant, two elephant, three elephant” into my timing, and I still want to visit Caracas, or say “Bella, bella” for no apparent reason. My point is that the film defined a period of time in Cumbernauld.
My first direct contact with Cumbernauld goes back some 30 years. As a much younger man I used to stay at a friend’s house in Cumbernauld after a night out in Glasgow. That was because Cumbernauld had a late-night bus service from Glasgow, unlike the Vale of Leven, where I grew up. Perhaps Jamie Hepburn can comment on what the late-night links between Glasgow city centre and Cumbernauld are like today for late-night revellers. It has been decades since I have partaken in that, however.
During my occasional visits to Cumbernauld under the hospitality of my friend’s parents I visited Condorrat, whose history stretches many years prior to the establishment of Cumbernauld new town. Condorrat has a proud weaving heritage and was the birthplace of the 19th century revolutionary John Baird, a leading participant and a radical commander in the radical war of 1820. He was subsequently executed and became known as one of the 1820 martyrs. On researching that aspect, I was reminded that, on 10 August 1835, an absolute pardon was granted to Baird and to the four local weavers who had also been convicted and had been sentenced to transportation to the penal colonies, such was the outrage of communities.
I understand that a memorial wall was erected in Condorrat in 2011 commemorating three groups of local people: those executed or sentenced to transportation for participating in the radical war; six local men who were killed, alongside 41 others, in the Auchengeich mine disaster of 1959; and all those local people who had lost their lives in conflict throughout the world—a real symbol of international solidarity. I emphasise the date of that commemoration: it was in 2011, way after the formation of the new town of Cumbernauld, looking back hundreds of years before its formation. That lineage and history stretches over time, way beyond the 70 years that we are celebrating here today. I also note that the remains of John Baird and fellow 1820 martyr Andrew Hardie were moved to Sighthill cemetery, now in my constituency, in 1847. The location is marked by an impressive monument erected in their honour.
In the short time that I do not really have left, let me note that the 50th anniversary of Summerston has gone incredibly well. We had a wonderful summer gala, and we are about to have an amazing Christmas fair: “Summerston loves Christmas.” One of the women behind pulling all of that together, Wilma Mather from the Summerston community and environmental group, was recognised just the other day in Glasgow city chambers, where she won the Evening Times community champion seniors award. I suspect that there are many community champions across Cumbernauld today, and that there have been over the past 70 years and beyond.
My happy birthday is extended to everyone with connections to Cumbernauld, today and in years gone by.